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scale alone or with other pest on meyer lemon?

12 years ago

All,

My meyer lemon was so happy most of the winter, with new foliage and lemons, but now has what looks like scale all over, plus webs plus a sticky exudate on the leaves. Please excuse horrible phone photo, but do you think I've got one or more pests here? If just scale, old posts recommend washing by hand with alcohol and/or horticultural oil. Is that the best plan here? Tips much obliged!

http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r532/tia5757/citrusscale2.jpg

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Comments (6)

houstontexas123
12 years ago
the webs would indicate mites. and from the pic, the tiny black dots are the mites.

a strong blast from your water hose would knock them off, but you'll need to use something else for the scale, hort oil would work.
tia5757
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Houstontexas. Is neem oil the same as horticultural oil? Will wash the whole little feller today.
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hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
12 years ago
Yes, Neem is a type of hort oil.

Patty S.
fraserv
12 years ago
No, it is not. Horticultural oil is made from petrol products, neem oil is made from neem seeds. Hort oil is more effective, but more toxic.

Looks to me like you have both spider mites and scale. Spider mites are the easy one - raise the humidity to 50% or higher, they thrive in dry warmth and humidity hampers their young.

Being an indoor plant, mix water, detergent, and a small amount of olive oil and spray her down. Remove any mature scales with a toothbrush, these are the adults. Repeat in 4 days or so.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years ago
Horticultural oil is a term used to describe ANY oil product used to control pests and diseases on plants. They can be petrochemicals OR plant based (mineral or vegetable) Hoosierquilt is right about neem being a type of horticultural oil.

That's quite a bad infestation of mites you have, tia. As Houston suggests, I believe that I would treat it to a real 'bath' in the sink or tub before deciding on which treatment(s) to use. Some plain water and a soft sponge or cloth should be your first attack.

I like the use of a horticultural oil (your choice of which kind) for the control of both spider mites AND scale insects. I strongly suggest that you use a commercial product...with an actual label to read and follow. Even petroleum based oils are safe to use on indoor plants, though I would spray outside just because of the potential for a mess.

I believe that all plant growers should have a hort.oil on hand other than Neem. Oils (mineral OR plant based) work solely by smothering the soft bodied critter, its nymphs and eggs. Commercial products dry with very little visible residue or odor. How long between treatments depends upon the product you decide to purchase.

Horticultural oils are useful in controlling mites, scale nymphs, aphids, whitefly nymphs. If I were to cite the things that Neem oil can help with, the list would be lengthy!

Alcohol is also very helpful in controlling certain pests on citrus and other plants. I keep a little plastic spray bottle filled with 1 part alcohol to 3 or 4 parts water. Some people use it full strength. It's useful for mites, mealybugs, aphids, and the nymphs of whitefly.

I've attached a short but sweet fact sheet that briefly explains what Horticultural oils are and how they work.

Here is a link that might be useful: Click to see!
tia5757
Original Author
12 years ago
All,
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I found some ancient neem oil in the back room, diluted it, and washed each and every leaf on the tree. This stopped in its tracks a rapid process of leaves yellowing and dropping. The tree looks so happy now! I will repeat in a few days, and if the weather gets warmer soon I should be able to move it outside where it will be happier with the humidity and there will be more natural predators and washing in the rain! Thanks!

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